How does ART affect your life?

Your Big idea:
Visual Art, art history, music, etc. help form societies, communities, fashion, fads, entertainment and so much more. Visual art especially can be traced as far back as Paleolithic era. As humans we create with our hands out of necessity, storytelling, or design. What important issues are you as an individual; capable of communicating to another person, generation or even species?

Your Essential Question:
How can art positively benefit, effect, motivate, or inspire a group of people or individuals.

Introduction - How will you introduce your students to the challenge?

PBS website - Venus of Willendorf

Venus of Willendorf
Venus of Willendorf

Present works of art that students are familiar with, introduce some art history and have a discussion about how this piece of art has or has not effected their life / environment / society etc.

Your Challenge:
Have an open discussion among the students to bounce ideas, concepts off of. Have the students break off into groups to come up with more specific ideas, concepts that we could work on individually or as a group. The students will then work on creating a piece of art that will be displayed for public viewing. The student will consider materials, time, location, audience.

Assessment - how will student learning be assessed?
Upon completion of the art project there will be an exhibit of which the students are responsible for organizing. The community will be invited, parents, local business men and women, representatives of local government, media. The student will then self- assess how successful the project was based on the feedback received from the viewer. In other words, was the students art work thought provoking, did it send a message?

What can you use as a collaborative environment?
Wikispaces, YouTube, Facebook, email

Team Formation - How will you form teams?
Flexible - could be individual or group/team project depending on previous student discussion.

What are some possible Guiding Questions?
What is your concept?
Are you trying to reach a large or small audience?
Are you trying to reach a local audience?
What media or materials are you (student) planning on using?
What are you passionate about?

What are some possible Guiding Activities:
Use a sketchbook, jot down words, read newspapers, local / national / international relevant news, group discussions

What are some possible Guiding Resources:
podcasts, websites, videos, databases, experts in specific field, parents, teachers, professionals, museums, galleries

Student Solutions:
  • a completed project, presented academically, professionally, proudly, respectively

How will (might) you Implement?
Teacher will present the concept/project to the students that they have the power to affect those around them with his/her art. Ask the students how they would feel about having their art viewed by hundreds possibly thousands of viewers. What would they do if they were offered to sell their piece? Would they? For how much? Could they justify the $$$ amount based on skill, knowledge, craftsmanship etc?

How will the students reflect and document
Throughout the process, the students will document their work and reflect on the process using a sketchbook. Students will document the process through a video or enhanced podcast daily / weekly.